France and Germany agree to disagree, ditch joint next-gen Euro fighter
Aircraft at core of the Future Combat Air System canned as parties could not decide who leads on the work
One of Europe’s two major next-gen fighter aircraft programs has been hit hard by differences between France and Germany, the two main participants, leaving the UK-Italy-Japan's Tempest as the main contender.
Reports say that the Future Combat Air System (FCAS, or Système de Combat Aérien du Futur – SCAF – in French) has been shelved by German Chancellor Merz and French President Macron.
The program dates back to at least 2017, and was expected to produce a test flight of a technology demonstration airframe by 2026 or 2027, with the aircraft coming in to operational service by 2040.
According to German publication Der Spiegel, the French firm Dassault and the European Airbus group could not agree on how to divide up the work on the project, nor on the...
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